Triple Champions Australia mastered Auckland’s fast and furious conditions and SailGP’s new T-Foils claim its first win of the season by triumphantly beating Spain and Emirates GBR.
After a dominant fleet racing performance, Australia qualified for the three-boat Final with flying colors, going head to head with Season 4 champions Spain and Emirates GBR in the winner-takes-all showdown on Waitematā Harbour.
Both the Brits and Aussies picked up perfect starts at the gun, blasting across the line at breakneck speeds. The Aussies narrowly claimed the fastest angle to Mark 1, but Emirates GBR snapped at their heels on the reach, employing aggressive tactics to attempt an overtake.
But as the boats turned, Emirates GBR fell off the foils, losing vital distance to the Aussies who stretched ahead with a 200m lead.
Impressive gains by the Spanish on the fifth leg saw them close the gap, with a the two teams coming back together at the fifth gate. However, Australia successfully defended the lead, with driver Tom Slingsby instructing his crew to ‘get rid of them here’ as the green and gold F50 rounded the mark.
From there, the Aussies stretched away to triumphantly cross the finish line in front of Auckland’s sell out crowds, with Spain finishing in second and Emirates GBR coming third.
It was a calm and calculating performance by the Aussies, who recorded a 82% fly time throughout the Final, and claimed its first title of the season. The win will see the team head to its home event in Sydney next month on a wave of momentum.
The result also marks the second consecutive podium for the British team, with Dylan Fletcher continuing an impressive comeback as team driver.
Speaking about the result, Australia driver Tom Slingsby reflected on the team’s weekend of dominant racing. “We sailed so well all week and it’s hugely satisfying to get rewards like this - it was tough conditions, but everyone pulled together and did their job.”
He gave ‘a big shout out’ to the team’s shore crew, which patched up the Australia F50 after the team was forced to retire from the 7th fleet race.
Fleet racing
The second day of racing in Auckland included a bumper schedule of three fleet races strewn with incidents and close calls as high winds and gusty bullets swept the course. The day got off to a dramatic start, with Canada ruled out of racing after flight controller Billy Gooderham sustained an injury in training, and ROCKWOOL DEN coming close to capsizing.
As fleet racing continued, teams continually fought to keep control of their F50s and master the new high-speed T-Foils. Chaotic incidents saw nosedives, hard splashdowns and plenty of near misses.
It was a disappointing event for home town heroes New Zealand, which failed to qualify for the Final and finished fourth overall. Despite this, the team made an impressive comeback in the last fleet race of the day, climbing up through the fleet to move from 10th to 2nd.
Key stats from the day saw Spain pick up the highest speed - 96.03 km/h, Emirates GBR sail the shortest distance - 8.98 km, and ROCKWOOL DEN record the highest average speed of 63.17 km/h - and the highest flight time of 97.08%.
The refreshed 2025 Season leaderboard sees Emirates GBR move into the top spot, tied on 17 points with New Zealand, and Australia in third with 16.
Next up, SailGP heads to Sydney for the KPMG Australia Sail Grand Prix on February 8/9.
